A clinical profile of 136 cocaine abusers

Our examination of 136 cocaine-abusing patients who sought treatment revealed impairment in the following areas: Psychological (99 percent of patients); Interpersonal (87.5 percent); Financial (83 percent); Physical (81 percent); and Vocational (68 percent). Daily dose did, but route of administration did not, contribute to degree of impairment. From these data, we conclude that cocaine's deleterious effects are both physiological and psychological. It appeared to us that maintenance of a cocaine habit is frequently at great expense to the user, regardless of whether the use is intranasal, intravenous, or free-base smoking. In our opinion, it is the multiplicity of psycho-social factors which drives patients to treatment. These factors also define most accurately the extent of consequences associated with cocaine use.